Tamale

Hello All,

Again, I apologize for the delay! I have been in Tamale without interenet for a few days. It was amazing.  The Autism Center didnt have school this week so I went to the North (13 hours on a bus!) to teach acting to a group of students who I contacted through the Theatre of the Oppressed website. I think that may be my new direction because it seems to be a great combination of all my interests (acting and travel and cultural interest etc etc). It was so refreshing to be talking about theatre again and really starting a conversation with people who were not only interested in acting, but in the persuit of an honest medium to share story and tie people together. I wish I had known about it earlier so I could have spent more time in Tamale- next time...

I also was able to visit a village about 30 minutes out of town which was an incredibly surreal experience. We were invited into the "chief's assistant's" hut, where we had to kneel and answer a series of what I could glean to be questions regarding our purpose and then he spoke to the men who brought us for a while...after that we could go see the chief, who was sitting under a tree mind you...amazing.

Anyway, Tamale is beautiful and the people are amazing. We stayed with a family with two young girls, which was so nice, the eldest's birthday is today which is also adorable. I told/read her The Tempest which she loved (kept wanting to read Miranda's lines) so I left it as a birthday present...from one actor to hopefully another (also the incredible moment that was giving a little girl in Ghana the play credited with the allegory of the cave was unforgettable).

It's starting to settle in that I will be home this time next week, and I can't really figure out how to feel about it...It has flown by and I am not ready to come home but I also know that in order for me to be most effective when I come back, I need to do more at home and with education...I also cant wait to be back on stage, which has been a surprising realization I have had here. I sincerely miss acting, which means it's time for me to get back to it more seriously and I can't wait.

I am editing some pictures, so as soon as those are done I will upload them as well. Also, just a reminder that EVERYONE who contributed will be receiving some pictures once I return since the mailing and skyping from school turned out to be not as feasible as expected.